When it comes to rivalries, there’s none bigger to Penn than Princeton.
“It’s one of those games where you can throw out your records. It doesn't matter,” coach Ray Priore said. “It doesn't matter what sport — I’ve been here that long. … The rivalry is rich, which really adds more appetite to the game.”
It doesn’t matter that Princeton is currently on track to finish the season with its worst record since 2011, as the team has won just two games all season and currently sits comfortably in the basement of the Ancient Eight. Penn football will still have its work cut out if it wants to tame the Tigers. In the last game of the season, the team is certainly hungry to do so.
“We don't like Princeton. They don't like us. So that speaks for itself,” junior quarterback Liam O’Brien said.
With the loss to Harvard this past weekend, the Quakers are officially out of Ivy League title contention. The upcoming face-off with the Tigers will be the culmination of a 10-week season that has seen the Red and Blue overcome plenty of adversity.
After starting the season off hot, winning two of three non-conference games — with the only loss coming to a Delaware team that has lost just one game all season — Penn got off to a slow start in conference play. Three straight losses there were highlighted by the team losing senior starting quarterback Aidan Sayin — who was just shy of setting several program records — to a season-ending elbow injury.
“The best way to handle adversity is just to deal with it,” Priore said. “To trust your training … [and] understand that there's blue skies ahead, and that's what our kids have done. They've kept that optimistic attitude the whole entire season.”
O’Brien has been one of the players who has really stepped into the spotlight without hesitation. The junior signal caller had a record-setting performance against Cornell in his second ever start and followed it up with a solid performance in the loss against the Crimson. Since getting the nod at the starting position, O’Brien has thrown for 850 yards, 11 touchdowns, and just one interception along with 285 yards on the ground and four rushing scores.
Ahead of the highly contested matchup against the Tigers, O’Brien’s focus isn’t on himself — it’s all about the seniors, who will be suiting up in the Red and Blue for one final time. Currently, there are 30 seniors on the roster. Among those include team leaders such as the captains: defensive back Shiloh Means, defensive lineman Paul Jennings, and Sayin.
“I feel like a lot of our leaders on defense are seniors,” junior linebacker Kadari Machen said. “It's extra motivation and also sentimental that it's gonna be the last time stepping on the field with those guys.”
With 38 years of coaching experience with the Penn program under his belt, Priore has seen his fair share of players graduate from the university. For him, it isn’t about the four years he gets with the players, but what they do once they depart.
“What's so awesome to see is what these young men have done, not just when they were here for four years, but what they've done over the last five, 10, 15, 20, 25 — and this group of seniors will be no different,” Priore said. “They'll be successful in all the things that they put their minds to. They’re go-getters. They're hard workers. They're resilient. And I think sport teaches that — you can't learn that in the classroom.”
If that wasn’t motivation enough, the team will also get the chance to play spoiler to Princeton’s own senior night.
“[It means] a lot to just be villains,” sophomore running back Malachi Hosley said. “Our senior night got ruined, [so it is] time to roll somebody else's.”
To do so, Hosley will be looking to pile on yet another game where he tallies over 100 yards rushing. He is on a three-game streak and has surpassed the mark in six of the nine games the team has played this year. In last season’s one-score loss, Hosley accounted for 119 yards on the ground. Another focus will also be feeding junior wide receivers Jared Richardson and Bisi Owens, who both had career days in the last meeting between the two sides.
The Quakers will take on the Tigers on their home turf, with kickoff in Princeton, N.J. currently scheduled for 1 p.m. on Saturday.
“Whatever we can do to get [the seniors] the last win and leave with the taste of victory, that's what we're gonna do,” O’Brien said. “And we're gonna put our hearts and our bodies on the line to do that.”
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